In a vehicle installed with a continuously variable transmission, a belt is looped around a primary pulley and a secondary pulley, and a speed change is performed by varying a rotation radius of the belt relative to the primary pulley and the secondary pulley. As disclosed in JP63-074736A, when the vehicle brakes or decelerates, a speed ratio is returned to a lowest speed ratio in preparation for the next start following stopping, whereupon speed change control is performed to stop the vehicle. When the vehicle stops before the speed ratio returns to the lowest speed ratio during emergency braking or rapid deceleration, control is performed to return the speed ratio to the low side speed ratio after the next start so that the speed ratio is suitable for starting. During this type of control, however, the speed at which the speed ratio is shifted to the low side speed ratio is restricted to avoid belt slippage.
Further, when a primary pulley pressure does not rise to or above a predetermined pressure even after a predetermined period of time has elapsed following activation of the vehicle, control such as that disclosed in JP2004-125037A may be performed. In this control, it is determined that a deviation has occurred between stored pulley information and the actual speed ratio, and while gradually displacing a step motor to an operating position corresponding to a high speed ratio, a determination is made as to whether or not the primary pulley pressure has increased. Thus, the vehicle can be started by setting the step motor to an appropriate operating position.